Archive for February, 2013

Summer’s just around the corner and will be here before you know it. Start preparing for your spectacular summer body now. Here are a some simple things you can do to get yourself ready for summer:

1. Jump Rope – I once saw Naomi Campbell on the Oprah Winfrey Show and she said jump roping is a great way to keep your face slim. Makes sense. You’re jumping up and down and your cheeks get a great work out. And guess what, I’ve tried it, it works. Go to your local sports shop and get yourself a jump rope. It’s a quick easy way to get a workout on your face.

2. Sit on a Ball at Work – Sounds crazy but, again, I’ve tried it. I once worked with a woman that told me her father worked for NASA and sits on an exercise ball at work all day long. He ditched the chair, and by doing so, he was able to lose weight in his stomach. The idea is you are forced to sit up and not sit back on a chair so your mid-section gets a work out all day and you can burn fat while you work. It’s also good for your back and helps you work on your posture. Who cares if you look ridiculous at work. Once you start seeing results, you’ll find others jumping on the bandwagon.

3. Dumbbells at commercial breaks – Get yourself a set of dumbbells. It’s a great way to get a work out on your arms and, let’s face it, arms are hard to slim down. So, when you sit down to enjoy an episode of your favorite show, make it a habit to pick up your dumbbell during commercial breaks. You have two minutes to squeeze in a work out and it’s better than taking a trip to the fridge. A few sets of weights per arm on your commercial breaks helps.

We all suffer weight gain, and weigh loss. Particularly when we have to face side effects that alter our comfortable body weight. Sometimes the meds we take for depression can cause weight gain which can back fire on you and cause you more depression. Often times the weight seems to appear overnight. The side effects seem to hit instantaneously and you wake up to a new body. And it can happen with or without side effects from meds.

I’ve suffered weight gain from lithium and it was rough. I told my shrink I’d rather be skinny and crazy then fat and sane, and I meant it. I think back to that time and laugh at the signs that drove me over the edge. We all have areas in our body that we know will gain weight. Stomach, thighs, hips, ass. Depending on where you tend to carry your weight, we can be used to knowing what certain areas are at risk. But, sometimes other unknown areas are affected and it can be troubling, or scary. You are swimming in unchartered waters which can be hard. Hard fat is hard knocks.

Here are some signs to consider when enough is enough: Hands, Feet, Neck and Face.

Recently I’ve been rethinking my stance on diagnosis that tag on NOS, for example, Paranoid Schizophrenia NOS or Major Depression Disorder NOS.

When I used to work in psych wards in Los Angeles County, it used to irk me that the treatment team would throw out diagnosis left and right with NOS for either they didn’t have to time to properly diagnose patients cause the hospital was a rotating door, OR, they don’t know enough about mental illness to properly diagnose someone so stick on the NOS to be safe. It annoyed me on multiple levels cause once a person has an Axis I diagnosis it’s documented in a system. Patients would come and go and float from hospital to hospital and when I would pull up their name in the system the patient would have several different diagnosis NOS…NOS…NOS.

Keep your friends close… and your enemies closer?

Is it a coincidence that the Oscar for best film of the year went to Argo and was presented by Michelle Obama at the White House?

For those of you that don’t know, Argo tells the story about secret operations to extract six fugitive American personnel out of Iran in 1980.

Is the marriage of politics and Hollywood causing some questions? Why is the first lady presenting an award for the first time ever, in the history of the Oscars, for a controversial politically driven movie?

Are we backtracking? Keeping the peace? What is going on here? It truly takes a look at the Art of War: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. What does that mean in regards to the relationship between film and politics… a lot.

It was a weird way to award a best film nominee, and close a ceremony televised worldwide.

Strategic?

We’ve all read enough “How To” books. It’s time to address how NOT TO do something.

Here are some tips on how NOT TO break up:

Do NOT dig up the past. You know a list of reasons why you should break up. Keep it to yourself. Voicing your laundry list doesn’t do anyone any good. You know. That’s enough. Both of you are at such a vulnerable place, hurting one another is not good. You will regret it. Remember this is your moment. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Loose lips cause pain. No one needs it.

You can do it

Whatever it is

Find a new job

Find a mate

Fix your car

Lose the pile of papers on your desk.

Extremities and passion are the bottom line of a child with Bipolar II. A Bipolar II individual is ruled by an intensity, that sometimes gets misunderstood as out of control or hyper at times. It can seem like symptoms of ADHD. It’s not, and it’s easy to get caught up in buzz word diagnoses when really it’s a form of manic depression that calls for attention and education.

Here are some things that my parents never knew, and I wish someone had told them:

Here’s the original…

Here are the top ten renditions of the shake…:

Would you do the shake?!

Some of us decide to be open about our mental illness in the work place. Some of us choose not to let co-workers know of our disease. So what do you do when you are outted against your will at work?

Sometimes judgment, rumors, and gossip can float around work when your colleagues discover you are mentally ill. And this can be a hard adjustment for those that prefer to keep their health private. If you are in a bad mood, instead of just being in a bad mood you might get labeled as “moody.” People are quick to go to buzz words like “crazy” or “odd” when really, you’re just like everyone else that has their good and bad days. But, sometimes it can be really frustrating and quite frankly, annoying.

Here are some tools to consider trying when your private life becomes public:

Take a mental health day – I had a co-worker once that survived breast cancer and had a clean bill of health. However, once a month she got to take a day off. She more or less (admittedly!) pulled what she called the cancer card to gain sympathy and to justify taking a day off when no one else was allowed to validate time off. Guess what..you can!! So, do it! If they know you’re mentally ill, what’s wrong with taking a mental health day?! Some may say you are exploiting your mental illness but, in my opinion, if you find yourself in an uncomfortable work situation due to public knowledge of your mental illness, why not take a day, or two! It’s only fair!